Canadiens at Maple Leafs preview

CANADIENS (26-33-12) at MAPLE LEAFS (42-22-7)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, TVAS, SN, NHL.TV

Curtis McElhinney will start for the Maple Leafs, who have won three in a row. They trail the Bruins by five points and the first place Tampa Bay Lightning by nine points. Tampa Bay hosts Boston on Saturday.
Forward Tomas Plekanec will face the Canadiens for the first time since he was traded to the Maple Leafs on Feb. 25. Plekanec played parts of 14 seasons (981 games) with the Canadiens since entering the League in 2003-04.
The Canadiens, who are 1-4-2 in their past seven games and have allowed five or more goals in four of their past six, trail the New Jersey Devils by 16 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

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Players to watch

Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin has four points (one goal, three assists) during a three-game point streak.
Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk has six points (five goals, one assist) during a two-game point streak.

They said it

"There's a reason he's been doing what he's been doing for such a long time. The way he came to the rink every day, he's just a professional. Even on days off he has a tough time staying home. He's kind of got his routine that he has to stick to."-- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher on Plekanec
"It's been a long time in Montreal but it's something different now. At the same time, I don't want to make a big deal out of it, it's another game for me to get better and be a better player for Toronto and that's my goal tonight."-- Maple Leafs forward Tomas Plekanec

Canadiens projected lineup

Paul Byron -- Jonathan Drouin -- Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk -- Jacob de la Rose -- Artturi Lehkonen
Nikita Scherbak -- Logan Shaw -- Charles Hudon
Nicolas Deslauriers --
Michael McCarron
-- Daniel Carr
Mike Reilly -- Jeff Petry
Karl Alzner --
Noah Juulsen
Jordie Benn --
Brett Lernout
Charlie Lindgren
Antti Niemi
Scratched:Byron Froese, David Schlemko
Injured: Ales Hemsky (concussion), Max Pacioretty (knee), Phillip Danault (upper body), Andrew Shaw, (upper body), Shea Weber (foot), Victor Mete (finger), Rinat Valiev (lower body), Carey Price (concussion)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- William Nylander --
Andreas Johnsson
Patrick Marleau -- Nazem Kadri -- Mitchell Marner
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Connor Brown
Dominic Moore -- Tomas Plekanec -- Kasperi Kapanen
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Roman Polak
Travis Dermott -- Connor Carrick
Curtis McElhinney
Garret Sparks
Scratched: Josh Leivo, Matt Martin
Injured:Auston Matthews (shoulder), Leo Komarov (left leg), Nikita Zaitsev (illness), Frederik Andersen (upper body)

Status report

Price was on the ice after the morning skate but will not dress. … Komarov is day to day. Zaitsev and Andersen each skated prior to the morning skate but will not dress. . ... Matthews participated in the morning skate without a non-contact jersey but will miss his ninth-straight game.

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Stat pack

Gallagher has three points (two goals, one assists) during a three-game point streak. … Galchenyuk has four points (four assists) during a two-game point streak. … Marner has six points (two goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak. … Marleau has six points (three goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak.